present to the past
by emijonks2000
Summary: Shikamaru, Naruto and Obito get sent back to Naruto and Shikamaru's genin days after the war to change the past and make things better. But with Shikamaru falling for his sensei's crush/girlfriend, Naruto falling for his sensei and Obito (possibly) crushing on his new assistant, Itachi things don't exactly go to plan. Warning: yaoi.
1. Chapter 1- you're kami!

Soft, blue eyes flickered open, twitching at the light after his eyes having been closed for so long. The space around him was an empty white void of light, and it was almost too much for the blonde - his eyes having to squint so as not to be blinded. He closed his eyes to think - first of all, where the hell was he? No idea. He reached his chakra out to feel for other signatures but felt nothing. Second of all, did he still have the Kyuubi? He quickly tried contacting the Kyuubi but failed, and found that he couldn't enter his mindscape either. Third of all, what was the last thing he remembered?

 _The sun was setting, Naruto's office lighting up in a beautiful array of yellows, oranges, peaches, pinks, reds and other tropical colours - it was a sight to behold. And it made doing boring paperwork more interesting. He had once wondered why Hokage's didn't get tonnes of clones to do paperwork but soon found out that it was because some decisions changed if you had certain information - information that you mightn't read for a while because your clone had it._

 _There was a knock on his door and he immediately used his now-improved sensory skills to find out who it was, "Come in, Shikamaru-san." The door was opened carefully with a creak - people often wondered why someone would want a creak in their door but when you were Hokage it came in useful to know if someone was breaking into your office. "I'm presuming that you're here about the recent trip to Uzushiogakure? Have you found anything interesting in the artifacts and scrolls?"_

" _Yes, Hokage-sama, something I think you'll find most interesting," Shikamaru bowed his head before looking straight up at Naruto as he said this, "We were looking through the scrolls when it was found." The Nara passed the scroll to Naruto who inspected it and found it was a seal - common for the village famous for their sealing abilities (the reason why Naruto had been able to become a seal master in only three years, the only one left though Shikamaru was learning). "It was made from a different ink than the others, and is a different style to the rest."_

 _Naruto nodded and slowly pumped some chakra into it so that the ink became more visible, "Yes, it seems to be- no, that can't be right," the blonde was speaking to himself now and Shikamaru walked closer, ready to protect his Hokage and best friend (they had become closer after the war) from whatever the scroll did. "Shit!" the blonde exclaimed, "We need to g-" he was cut off as a bright light surrounded them, their chakra was suddenly drained and they were knocked unconscious. The anbu guards in the room could do nothing._

So, Naruto thought carefully, Shikamaru should be in this place too, however, something was stopping him from being able to sense his chakra - which was odd since he was a natural sensor (though they hadn't realised until he was fifteen) and had been able to detect everyone and thing for twenty miles clearly for years. Plus, he knew that since he didn't have any control over his chakra, Shikamaru wouldn't, so he wouldn't be able to hide his chakra signature.

The blonde re-opened his eyes, blinking a few times until he could see without it hurting, and looked around, more carefully this time, "Shikamaru." Ok, so calling out into the emptiness was sort of cliche, and quite often dangerous as it alerted your enemies to your presence, location and the fact that you were awake. Not wise if you were being held captive. "Shikamaru, it's Naruto. Are you here?"

"Naruto." It was faint but definitely there, he listened out again, knowing that Shikamaru would keep calling with five second intervals so that Naruto could track him - since the blonde was a sensor and his hearing had been enhanced by the Kyuubi. "Naruto." Left? No, not right, either. The sound wasn't coming from behind or infront, with, which was strange. He looked up, nope - where was the sound coming from then? "Naruto." He remembered Kakashi's lesson with Sasuke and suddenly he looked down and a little to his left was Shikamaru - underneath what appeared to be a thin layer of glass there was another room, the same as his, and that was the room Shikamaru was in. "Naruto."

"Look up." Shikamaru looked up and then around a little and Naruto laid on his front so that Shikamaru would be able to see his face. The Nara looked shocked, and Naruto waved, "I can't use my chakra, as you probably can't, and I can't contact the Kyuubi. I don't know where we are and there seems to be something like a layer of glass between us, I don't know if I can break it. The seal brought us here, I should never have messed with it, especially as it was from Uzushiogakure. It was a time-space seal, like the hirashin was. Most likely, it could only have been activated by a prince of Uzushiogakure, which I am, so didn't react with anyone else. Damn, I noticed it too late. Sorry."

"It's not your fault, look," Shikamaru fell into his 'anbu commander'/'chief advisor to the Hokage' mode, so Naruto did the same, but he fell into his 'Hokage' persona. "Try breaking the 'glass', it might break. Who knows. We don't know anything about this new place, but, if this was made to be activated by your chakra, then surely it isn't a trap to hurt us, since they wouldn't want to imprison their royalty."

"True," Naruto said and tried punching the glass, oddly, it seemed to bend around his fist, like a magical shield or something, it was then that he realised what was going on. "Shit, I've got it Shika- this is where I go for protection, when I'm being attacked and can't do anything. The reason you're down there and I'm up here is because I've got royal Uzumaki blood, so it protects me and puts you down there so I'm safe until reinforcements or something come. Probably." The blonde blushed at Shikamaru's look, thinking what he'd said was stupid.

"Perfect, that's, perfect- you're right!" Shikamaru seemed oddly excited, "Ne, Naruto, can you remember the healing seal you put on me," Naruto nodded, he'd made a seal with some of his and the kyuubi's chakra inside so that whenever Shikamaru was hurt their chakra would flow through his system and heal- oh. Shikamaru was brilliant. "I've still got my kunai so," his eyes gleamed happily in the light and Naruto grinned, getting ready for his friend to join him.

Shikamaru pressed the Kunai to his hand, breaking the skin and causing blood to fall. Soon, he felt the familiar burn and then tingle run through his body as Naruto - and the Kyuubi's - chakra coursed through his veins, as soon as the chakra had spread all the way through him and when his wound started to heal he felt a little sick and then he was sat next to Naruto. "It worked, Shikamaru, well done."

They didn't have time to celebrate, however, as soon they felt the ground shake a little, "What's going on?" Shikamaru asked but Naruto couldn't answer as soon they were both plummeting through the air, falling. everything was a blur of colour but after a few seconds they got more used to it and could concentrate of each other - both proud that they hadn't screamed. Out loud. Probably.

"You were right, this is a time-space seal, I commend you for recognising that after only six years of learning fuuinjutsu, though I'm not surprised considering your parentage, Uzumaki-Namikaze," Naruto tensed at the new voice, but not daring himself to look at anything other than Shikamaru in fear of losing control of his thoughts. "And you, Nara, have proved to be just as resourceful as someone of your clan would be expected, quick thinking in dire situations just proves that I was right in my choice of you two."

Naruto, now thinking quite clearly, answered, "Ah, that makes sense now. You put that seal there, whoever you are. I thought that it looked different, hell, even Shikamaru noticed. It was not activated by my royal heritage but both my chakra and Shikamaru's merging. Clever. So, what we know now is that you wanted both of us here, wherever here is, for some reason. Now, who are you and what do you want with us?"

"Ah, I'm glad, I've got 'Hokage' Naruto to come out in full, ne?" the voice giggled, that could either mean they were friendly and cocky or a psychopath - knowing their look it would be the latter. "Alright, why do I want you? I want you to go back in time and change things. The Fourth Shinobi War should never have happened and Madara should never have been resurrected, never mind Kaguya. I know that you can fix things and I'd like to offer you both a second chance at life. I can't, or more I won't, send you back to the beginning, but to when you first became genin. You may choose one other, dead or alive (though they must be alive at the time) to send back as well."

Naruto looked Shikamaru in the eyes and nodded, the Nara sighed but answered, "Obito Uchiha - although we would like to speak to him privately before we are sent back," he then muttered, "If we are sent back," before continuing, "And we would like to have some of all three of our chakra presences (like Namikaze-san did for Naruto) sealed inside of each of us."

"Obito Uchiha, unexpected." The voice seemed amused, "Very well, Obito Uchiha shall join you shortly before you shall land in your previous bodies - your chakra will be the same as before, as shall your chakra control, you will have your memories and you will be able to perform the same jutsu's, though not as well, however, you shall have the body and physical strength you had then, so as to not arouse suspicion. You will wake up on the morning of the genin team placements. Try not to give anything away as you may be considered a spy, tell who you like but they probably won't believe you. Oh, and as for your previous question, I'm Kami."

The voice disappeared completely and they instinctively knew that they were alone. Neither said anything, in too deep shock, but a few minutes later (that's what it felt like, but they didn't know if there even was time in this weird dimension) they saw Obito appear, looking exactly the same as the day he died in the Fourth Shinobi War.

"Naruto-kun, Nara-san," Shikamaru 'tsked at the address, but Obito ignored him, "Kami," it sounded odd, "Has told me most of what is going on, and she has also informed me that we can each give each other one of our skills, they can be different for each person but it can only be one, one asset each. So, please take that into consideration when forming your plan."

"Alright," Obito was a little surprised that Shikamaru already had a plan but he had heard of Nara's and their skills, "We don't need to worry about changing things, however, it would be useful if we knew when key events were happening. Obito-san, I need you to act the same as before, remove Madara from the equation, try to get rid of the Akatsuki as best as possible but protect Itachi Uchiha and," he looked at Naruto, "If possible make sure Nagato and Konan are unharmed." Obito nodded, "Naruto-sama, I trust that you can deal with the other jinchuuriki and between you come up with a plan to remove Kagura from the equation - Obito, you need to buy us as much time as possible on that front, oh, and keep us posted, Naruto should be able to form a place in our minds for us to communicate. I shall deal with Danzo and the political rift in Konoha, as I know that best, however, Naruto-sama you should try to sort out the political rifts between the villages and form a worldwide alliance again."

Naruto smiled, "Good," he had all eyes on him now, for some reason, he really didn't get why people looked to him as a leader, "I shall give you my healing abilities, Shikamaru, and Obito, I shall give you my sealing abilities, since you may need to use them."

Obito went next, "Thank you, Naruto-sama," he copied Shikamaru's address only to aggravate the Nara, "I shall give both of you my eyes, your left shall be the rinnegan and your right the sharingan. Because you both have Naruto's healing it shouldn't strain your eyes, it should mean that you can use all of my techniques in your eyes. Kamui is my favourite."

Shikamaru grumbled, "I guess you can both have my bloodline, but abuse it, Uchiha, and I will kill you using your own shadow." Obito gulped nervously, not realising how scary his friends friend (Naruto being his friend and Shikamaru his friend's friend) could be.

"We are in agreeance then, once you've done, Obito, come back to the village, with this scroll," Naruto passed a scroll to the Uchiha, "It will allow you to enter the village and will explain everything to Hokage-sama, however, you might want to read it first, though, so that you know what to expect and how to answer any questions. Same for you, Shikamaru, except yours will be for if you accidentally reveal that you are too strong and they ask for explanations and you can't get out of trouble yourself. The good thing is that I know it will work because I was once Hokage so I know how Hokage's think."

Shikamaru exhaled, "Are you ready?" the other two nodded, a gulp coming from the young Hokage, who everyone seemed to forget was the youngest and only twenty two, nearly twenty three. "Naruto, if you ever need anything come to my compound, because of my bloodline being in you the deer will accept you and I will put a seal on you later so that all Nara have to take care of you. I know that life has been hard for you so I want to make sure you can be as happy as possible this time."

"Thank you, Shikamaru, same for you- I know that it might be tough seeing you father again after so long and I know that you and your mother weren't on the best of terms at the end so if you ever need to escape, you know where I live." With that said, everything turned pitch black and the falling sensation ended - but they were once again unconscious, this time in the past.


	2. Chapter 2- how do you know Naruto

Obito opened his eyes groggily, rubbing his temples, the memories of, well, everything, returning to him quickly, making him wonder how Naruto would stand dispelling so many shadow clones, that would be a jutsu he would avoid at all costs. He looked around his dark room and realised that he was at the Akatsuki base, fucking perfect, that meant he had to act as 'Tobi' and damn that was annoying. Plus, he didn't know how he'd act around Itachi, the man was smart, smart enough to fool him the first time around, not that he'd tell anyone. But he could be useful.

The best thing to do right now would be to open the scroll that Naruto had given him and read it to see what his cover story would be when he returned to Konoha and so that he could see if he would be able to show it to Itachi to get the man on his side. He honestly had no idea what Naruto, the Hokage, would put in a note to another Hokage explaining why a man who had been 'dead' for years and was now a missing nin was now in his village and manage to convince him to let Obito stay in Konoha.

 _Hokage-sama,  
I am writing this to you to explain the presence of the ninja in front of you, as you may or may not already know he is Obito Uchiha. During the mission to Kanabe Bridge he was, in fact, crushed by rocks, and near dead when his teammates left, they couldn't have known that he was still alive. But he was. Madara Uchiha's henchman (who is actually controlling him) found Obito and took him to Madara, whom - wanting someone to train and work for him - healed Obito using his artificial henchman's cells, since they were Hashirama Senju's. He then continued to train and manipulate Obito for years but the boy never turned to Madara's side, when he was allowed back to Konoha, it was set up so that he saw Rin Nohara's death, which made him lose himself and fall into Madara's promises. Recently that changed when he met me, and now he would like to return to Konoha. I will vouch for him, as will the Nara clan.  
The Rokudaime Hokage_

Wow, that boy was talented at what he did, no wonder he made Hokage, despite being so young. It probably wouldn't help Obito with Itachi though. He sighed and stood up, thinking he'd have to do it himself, but then another two scrolls slipped out of his pocket, one saying 'Itachi' on it and the other saying 'Nagato' - so the boy had been prepared after all. He chuckled and decided that Itachi would be his first call of business, so read it too.

 _Itachi Uchiha  
Now, this might all seem very strange to you as, no matter how much of a genius you are, this is odd. 'Tobi', as you know him, is actually Obito Uchiha, the ex-teammate of your ex-anbu captain Kakashi Hatake, who is currently the jonin sensei on your adorable little brothers genin team. Sasuke is fine, by the way. Anyway, Obito was manipulated by Madara Uchiha, whom you should know of but isn't as dead as you might think, and now wants to change his actions, however, Zetsu is Madara's henchman and the one pulling ALL of the strings, so we need your help. Obito has been tasked with getting rid of the Akatsuki - my comrade would apreciate it is Hidan was left alive so that he can kill him himself - while protecting you and trying to get Nagato and Konan to our side. He has another scroll for this. You're brother is being targeted by Orochimaru, though the snake has yet to do anything, so any help you could offer on that front would be much appreciated. Please return to Konoha with Obito as Sasuke needs you. I hope that this explains a lot.  
The Rokudaime Hokage / Sasuke's best friend (the one you told him to kill - no hard feelings?)_

Still laughing from the last comment, Obito rolled the scrolls back up and decided to head out - minus his Zetsu mask, opting for his normal mask instead, if Zetsu asked he'd say that he wanted some 'private time' and then forgot to switch. After all, it wouldn't do for Zetsu to find out about his betrayal, even if he couldn't do anything yet, not without the Juubi.

Obito stood up, mask firmly in place and cloak covering all excess skin, before walking calmly to the door, trying not to freak out. How the hell had he thought that he would control a group of missing nin (only the strongest) in the past, he had no idea. Madara must've been feeding him drugs or something. But he did manage to open the door, eventually, handle feeling hot and slippery to touch, even through his gloves. Why had he been so desperate to cover up? Oh, right, scars. Yippee.

Forcing himself to skip as he walked, Obito made his way down the corridor, only stopping when he saw the other Uchiha walking with Kisame. Damn, had Itachi (one of the scariest people he knew) always been that young looking? Damn. "Itachi-san, Kisame-san!" Obito said in a sickly sweet 'Tobi' voice, "Can Tobi," referring to himself in third person- he was going to puke, "Borrow Itachi-sempai for a minute? Tobi's a good boy!" He was seriously going to puke. Or kill himself. Or kill someone else. He liked that last option. Particularly killing Zetsu.

Itachi was blinking dumbly, which Obito took as a good sign, before he finally responded with, "Hn, Kisame." Of course, Obito hadn't been around Itachi for a while, so was nervous. For all he knew, that could mean _kisame, let's go_ or _Kisame, kill him_. Well, he was Obito Uchiha, so he could fight both of them off fairly easily but still, as he couldn't HURT Itachi, that would be a problem.

Luckily, Kisame soon started walking off, so Obito knew that 'hn, Kisame' had meant _you can leave_ , most of the Akatsuki members thought that he was weak or an idiot anyway, so they would underestimate him. "Thanks, Itachi-senpai! Can we go somewhere quieter?" Itachi nodded, obviously not knowing what this was about - no one would naturally assume that THIS could happen anyway.

Obito lead them through several hall ways until he reached the one room that he knew Zetsu wasn't watching and wouldn't watch. The bathroom. Itachi looked a little bit disgusted and took a tiny step back, Obito almost snorted. "What is going on, Tobi?" Aww, Itachi sounded just like his brother, but, you know, less crazy evil psychopath who ran away with Orochimaru and then wanted to be Hokage. Cute.

"Don't worry," Obito giggled, as would his persona, "I'm not going to just you or anything, Tobi's a good boy!" Itachi took a cautious step forward, letting the door swing shut behind them, "Can you lock the door please, senpai? I need to tell you a secret, Tobi's a good boy!" God, he was having a hard time sounding so fucking excited all the time, if someone were writing this there would be a shitload of exclamation marks.

"Hn." Is that all Uchiha's did? Nope, 'cause he was an Uchiha. He almost grinned at that. No wonder his clan had hated him. But seriously, what was up with all the 'hn's, what does 'hn' even mean? The sound of the door locking drew Obito from his thoughts, "So, what did you want to tell me, Tobi?"

Obito couldn't resist, Honest to God. Or Kami. Or whatever. He couldn't, "I like you, Itachi-senpai, and I locked you in here to rape you!" Itachi paled and stood in shock, mouth gaping. Obito burst out laughing, "Oh shit, your fucking face, oh God." he could hardly breath, Itachi, however, seemed to be getting that it was a joke and was glaring (but the pink blush on his cheeks did nothing to help him show his anger). "Sorry, sorry, couldn't resist," he was wheezing now, great. He really needed to work out more. "But seriously, read this." He handed Itachi the scroll, glad that his sharingan was always on to capture this moment.

"Naruto." That name made Obito sober up fast as he pinned the Uchiha with a glare (using his mangekyo sharingan, that was always effective), making the younger back up against the wall slightly as Obito growled and started cornering him.

"How the FUCK do you know that's Naruto-sama just from the scroll he wrote?!" Obito was pissed, and maybe it wasn't wise to call him 'Naruto-sama' in front of Itachi, but hell, he was mad. Had Itachi been stalking Naruto? Hurt him? The note did say that Itachi had instructed Sasuke to kill him after all. "I swear if you've so much as fucking touched him, I'll kill you. And if you're a God Damned stalker I'll rip of your-"

Itachi held his hands up in surrender, "I recognised Uzumaki-kun's writing because first of all I used to guard him when I was in anbu, and second of all I was the one who taught him to write." Obito froze, taking the information in, "We were friends and I asked him to try to befriend Sasuke, so I hoped that it was him. Now I know that I was correct." Who knew that another, non-evil, Uchiha could talk so much. "How do YOU know Uzumaki-kun?"

Obito smiled, "He told you, didn't he? He saved me from myself, well, myself and Madara Uchiha and Kaguya, so, you helping or what? 'Cause Uzumaki has a lot of faith in you, oh, and I'm just gonna say this once, so you can believe me or not but you aren't to tell anyone," his language was bad when he was pissed, he realised. Normally he was so posh- well, he thought that he was. "We are from the future and in the future your stupid Otouto stabs Naruto in the heart with a chidori and betrays him and then tries to take his position as Hokage."

Itachi gaped, in shock again, and Obito grinned, "Look, Uchiha-chan," Itachi glared, "We can't act any more civil than normal, or any different, however, we do have to try to achieve Naruto-sama's goals, to make you happy, I die for Naruto in the future. So we can be friends. Sort of. Anyway, let's continue to kick buts together, senpai!" Obito knew it was over so slipped into his 'Tobi' facade, again. Itachi nodding, now knowing it was time to leave. And if anyone saw them leave the bathroom together, no one commented. Much. To their face.


	3. Chapter 3 - the genius

"Shikamaru, wake up," there was a loud huff as Yoshino obviously thought that her son was still sleeping, in actually fact the Nara had woken up after the first shout, but he'd stayed still, feigning sleep. His mother hadn't lived with him for so long that he'd been shocked at the wake up and hadn't wanted it to be an enemy, but then he'd remembered that they were in the past. But he still hated his mother. He knew that it was a cruel thought, she was his mother and he knew for a fact that Naruto yearned for one, but he couldn't help it. She should've been there to help his father and she most certainly shouldn't have blamed it on him. "Shi-ka-ma-ru Nara, wake up right this instance!"

"Maa, what's going on, Yoshino-chan?" Shikamaru's body unconsciously tensed as he heard his father's voice, it had been six years, six fucking years and now the man was acting like nothing had changed. Well, for him, nothing had. But Shikamaru had a feeling that he was too old to run into his father's arm and bawl like a child - which was what he wanted to do right now. "Shikamaru, are you getting up or not?"

The younger Nara sat up with a smile, looking at his parents, mother obviously annoyed and father looking as laid back as ever. "I'm awake, so you can leave now." Shikamaru couldn't help the slight hostility he had in his voice when addressing his mother, it was natural after so many years of ignoring her - though he knew that Shikaku wouldn't be pleased if he knew that Shikamaru took over as clan head and kicked his mother (Shikaku's wife) out of the clan.

Yoshino raised her hand with a soup spoon in it (wow, Shikamaru couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten his mother's home made cooking, he didn't know if she was a good cook or not) but Shikaku grabbed her wrist lightly, "Come on now, Yoshino-chan, he's a growing boy, he just wants some privacy," Yoshino huffed again and walked out haughtily. "Come on, you'd best get dressed and ready for the academy, your genin teams are being announced today."

With that Shikaku left and Shikamaru was alone again, but this time with a soft smile on his lips, he'd forgotten how much he missed his father. He'd mourned a lot at first (well, not during the war or the three months of recovery after it, but once that was over)but as time continued he got better. He moved in with Naruto, a joint (huge) apartment, and let his mother keep their old house. He helped Kurenai with the baby, who was super cute by now and called him Pap's, only Naruto knew that during the last few months that had become official, yeah, it felt weird being with his ex-sensei's girlfriend, but still.

Oh God, what was he going to do about Kurenai and Asuma? He loved Asuma like a brother and Kurenai like a lover, he wasn't prepared to give up or hurt either so what did he do? Well, he had to fight for Kurenai, obviously, but if that hurt Asuma he'd give in, but he wouldn't let either of them die. Not this time.

The Nara walked to his wardrobe, opened it and froze- what the hell had he been thinking? It was hideous, no wonder Kurenai had only seen him as a little brother at first. Long gone were his baggy jonin clothes (of which both he and Naruto wore in their later years) and now there were, he shuddered, fishnets. Oh God. Sai had really put him off of those. That boy really didn't know where friendly jabs ended and sexual assault began.

Shikamaru then remembered what Naruto would awaken to find - orange jumpsuits. Oh damn that would be good. With that thought in mind, realising his situation was _that_ bad, he got dressed, immediately noticing the lack of muscle. After the war was over and mourning set in he started training and some how he managed to get buff, like, really. More so that his dad. But now he was just a skinny brat - he'd have to eat and train more. Fast.

In the past - no, future? - he'd been world known for his strategic skills as well as his strength, but now the only thing he'd be good for was planning. Which wouldn't work against Hidan. The prick. Once dressed, Shikamaru, albeit reluctantly, walked into his family dining room, finding both his parents already seated. "Hello tou-san, Yoshi-" he bit his lip, forgetting that he wasn't supposed to call her that, and he couldn't even use the excuse that he was 'too old' since he'd called his dad 'tou-san', "Kaa-san."

They both looked worried for a second but then brushed it off, he was young after all, "So, Shikamaru-kun," Shikaku began, odd, Shikamaru couldn't remember the last time his father initiated a conversation like this, unless he wanted something. Damn, he forgot his father was the jonin commander. He'd have to be careful. "Are you looking forward to today? DO you have any idea who's team you'll be put on?"

"Well," Shikamaru said carefully, eyeing up the food that was coming, "Today should be quite interesting, and although I can't _know_ who's on my team, I have a vague idea, afteral, since Ino, Choji and I are graduating at the same time they'll probably want to reform the Ino-Shika-Cho formation."

Shikaku raised his eyebrow and Shikamaru realised that his mother was tactically staying out of the conversation, he didn't know why they were having this conversation, though, he didn't remember it. Strange. "And what do you think about that."

"I think that formation is old and tired and there is a much better choice," it was out before Shikamaru really knew what he was saying, and who to. But it was true, the Uchi-Uzu-Nara formation worked way better, him, Naruto and Sasuke, now Obito, he supposed. "Not that I don't respect you, in your times I'm sure you were strong and worked well," damn, he was just digging himself a ditch. In the past/future he was used to people listening to him and him being in an important position, but here he was just a brat. It got confusing. "Sorry."

"No," Shikaku stated, "I'm interested to see who you think you would work best with, as well as Choji and Ino."

"Well, I don't really know, but surely Choji would work best with a tracker and an offensive tracker," by this he was talking about Kiba and Shino, "And Ino would work better in a group of all girls, maybe, one smart medic and one strong offensive type?" Once again, Hinata and Sakura, "And I would work better with two offensives." Uzumaki and Sasuke.

"Alright," Yoshino said to try to disperse the tension, probably a good idea, he had to admit, "Who's hungry?" Shikamaru eagerly started to eat, not as good as Naruto's (but the blonde happened to be the best chef Shikamaru had ever met) but it was nice. Both he and Naruto had been busy recently so home cooked meals were few and far between. "You seem hungry today, Shikamaru-kun."

"Hm, well, I need to build up my muscles so I need to eat," both of his parents looked a little surprised, "Which reminds me, I'm going to be late home tonight, and most nights, because I'll be training, now I'm a genin I really need to improve my strength and stamina, oh, and my training partner might stay over some nights." Or all, if Shikamaru had his way.

"Well," Yoshino said a little unsure, but realising they were genin now so needed to be let off the leash, "As long as Choji's parents are ok with it-"

"Ah," Shikamaru said, "It's not Choji, and he's an orphan so it's ok, think more," he waved his hands in front of his face, "Demon fox." The young Nara went back to eating, without realising a) what he'd said and b) that his parents were staring at him with shock/suspicion. "Damn, better go, got to pick up a friend, ja ne." he mock saluted then shun-shined. He didn't manage to get far, it put too muchs train on his small body, but he managed to get out of there, which was what he wanted.

He hadn't realised how hard it would be to see his family again after so long, his mother seemed kinder than he remembered, sure, he knew that she wasn't always the evil witch that she had been after the war, but he had thought that he had always disliked her at least a little. It was too confusing. And he could still remember watching that attack his the area holding his father, had he been anyone else he would've broken down right there and then. But he was Shikamaru Nara, well known for being the calculating, empty void next to Naruto.

The Nara shook off his worries and walked to where he knew the blondes old (now current, hopefully not for long, the place was awful) apartment was. He walked through the building, not walking into anyone - he half wondered if everyone had moved out when Naruto moved in, wouldn't be a surprise - until he finally reached the blondes door. He didn't bother knocking, just opening it. The blonde would be asleep and never locked his door, he said that it wouldn't stop anyone, anyway.

He walked through and to the blondes room, knowing that Naruto would probably have a massive spring cleaning session later. "Oy, Nar, wake up." The blonde grabbed his wrist, which was shaking the younger boy. He was obviously still half asleep but when he focused and realised it was Shikamaru he released the hand. "Hey, Nar." He was speaking more gently now, not wanting to alarm the boy, "We're in the past." Both smiled but neither reached their eyes.

"Urgh, orange," Naruto mumbled, "Just how bad was it?" Naruto sat up and Shikamaru saw him sway a little, he often got dizzy when he first woke up - they'd have to see Tsunade about it this time. Knowing what the blonde was talking about, Shikamaru winced, the orange was bad then so it would be awful for them now. Naruto stood, wobbling once then walking to his wardrobe, he opened it and swore, "Shit. Why the hell would Jiji let me wear this abomination! Urgh, I'm gonna need a drink tonight."

Shikamaru smiled, "Yeah, I'm in on that. Osaka-Jiji said that his bar was a rebuild of one he owned before hand, exactly the same, how about we go visit later? I mean, we will be ninja, and sure we'll be young and he won't know us but we could always use a slight henge." Naruto grinned, "Anbu masks?" Shikamaru didn't even need to ask.

"Anbu masks." Shikamaru walked out of Naruto bedroom to give him a bit of privacy to get changed - although they had lived together for six years so he'd seen it all hundreds of times before anyway. Every dent, muscle, scar- "Damn it, fuck, shit, Shikamaru!" the blonde ran through and Shikamaru stared. There was a huge scar on his shoulder, one that shouldn't be there. One given to him by Sasuke.

"Turn." Shikamaru instructed and the blonde moved to show Shikamaru his back which showed that, yes, there was a massive scar reaching along. "Well, that's going to be hard to hide. Didn't you say your sensei's liked to take you to hot springs?" Naruto groaned loudly, "Just use a henge, Obito's given you the sharingan so no one should be able to see through it."

"Yeah," Naruto mumbled. "But still, I'll remember what's never going to happen again every time I look at this scar. I won't be able to be truthful to my team. Damn, it's so fucked up." Shikamaru agreed with a nod. "What you want for breakfast?" Naruto looked in his cupboard, "I have ramen. Let's go shopping."

Shikamaru smirked as they walked out of the blondes apartment, "You know, you should really lock doors."

"Fuuinjutsu." Naruto replied simply and Shikamaru nearly whacked his head against a wall, why the hell hadn't he thought of that? Naruto was a fuuinjutsu genius (he got his master-age a year before they left) so of course seals would be safer than a lock for him. "I woke up and was confused last night so I put up security seals."

"You do fuuinjutsu when you're tired and confused?" Naruto nodded, looked inside different shops, each time getting a glare. Eventually, Shikamaru had had enough so grabbed Naruto's arm and dragged him into the nearest shop. "Come on, buy whatever you want, I'll pay." Naruto's eyes lit up and he cautiously started putting things in a basket. He never had been good at accepting things from people. Both noticed the glare aimed at them the whole time.

They walked up to the till with the food and the man said, "I'm sorry, we don't serve demons," he looked at Naruto then Shikamaru, "Or demon lovers. Try hell."

Naruto bit his lip nervously, but it was Shikamaru who replied, "My name is Shikamaru Nara, son of Shikaku Nara, the head of the Nara which makes me the heir, he is on the council and is the jonin commander, unless you want to get a visit from him and Hokage-sama, I suggest you damn well serve us and don't even think about over charging us. Spread the word, if anyone ever discriminates against Naruto Uzumaki again they will have to deal with the Nara, Yamanaka and Akimichi clans, as well as Hokage-sama and the entire Jonin force." His voice was edged with malice, his KI leaking out, Naruto grabbed his arm lightly to calm him down, but it made little difference.

"A-alright, um, that will be," the man fumbled around and finally they walked out of the shop with the food they wanted, Shikamaru still seething. They walked down the road a little then Naruto started laughing, Shikamaru joining him after a few seconds.

"Thank you, Shika," Naruto said once he'd calmed down, "I know that they can annoy you but this is the villagers way of grieving," Shikamaru growled and clenched his fists. "I know that it isn't fair but so is life. I have a feeling that things didn't go well this morning." Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly. He was sure he'd acted normal, "Come on, I can read you like a book. I'm offended that you doubt that."

"No," Shikamaru said, "I'm don't doubt that, it's just, odd, ya know? It's just been us two for so long, and seeing dad after so long, mum not hating me. I dunno, I guess it's just hard to take in." Shikamaru started to drag his feet as they walked towards the academy.

"Yeah," Naruto said, "I'll have to see Jiji again, Jiraiya-sensei, Neji-san, Hiashi-sama before the war, Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan and Ino-chan before the war. Sasuke-kun as an avenger again. It'll be hard," Naruto looked sharply at Shikamaru, "But you'll do it, I know, because you're Shikamaru Nara. The genius," Naruto looked away wistfully, "And I'll manage, because I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"The hero," Shikamaru added, that was how they'd both been known as, the hero and the genius. Naruto shoved him and they chuckled. "Ne, have you realised?" Naruto looked confused, "We'll have to go through puberty again." Naruto tensed and they groaned loudly.

"Shit, I hadn't thought of that." Shikamaru chuckled. "Come on, we're here." Naruto led them inside, both managing to remember where their classroom was. When they walked inside they instantly remembered everyone's faces from when they were young. "Kiba." Naruto breathed quietly and Shikamaru nudged him gently.

Shikamaru walked to the back of the class, before anyone could notice he walked with Naruto. He sat down just in time to hear a loud, obnoxious voice (Kiba's, he realised) call out, "Oy, dead last, "Shikamaru huffed quietly, who was he calling dead last. "This is for genin only, and you failed!"

"Kiba," Naruto said in a semi-calm, semi-yell, "How could I be dead last if I failed? And, I have a hitai-ate, see?" he pointed, that was when Shikamaru noticed the small security seal on it and smirked, "As such, I am actually a genin, and should be here. if you can't tell that, maybe you shouldn't." Naruto walked to the back of the class, by the windows, all eyes on him, and sat next to Sasuke, "Hi, Sasuke-kun," Naruto said as a way of introduction.

"Hn, dobe."

"Aw," Naruto fake pouted, "You know, if you can't even remember my name, your loud, orange classmate of three years, then I have serious worries about your ability to remember information on a mission. He grinned as Sasuke looked a little surprised. He held out his hand, "So let's re-meet, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo. But you can call me Naruto. I like ramen and hate people too caught up in the past to see the future, but I understand it. My hobbies are training and my dream for the future is to gain everyone's respect and then become hokage. Now you."

Shikamaru smirked from his corner, Naruto had told him about Kakashi's test so he knew what the blonde was doing, he was really amazing. "Hn, I'm Sasuke Uchiha," Shikamaru froze, he hadn't expected Sasuke to actually do it.

"Are you ok, Shikamaru?" Choji asked and Shikamaru nodded before resting his head on the desk, pretending to sleep while actually listening in.

"You can call me Sasuke, I guess. I suppose that I like tomatoes," Shikamaru almost burst out laughing and he could tell Naruto was also repressing that urge. "But dislike sweets and people who leave without reason." Abandonment issues? That wasn't on his file. Interesting. "My hobbies are also training," ooh, bonding point, well done, Naruto. Shikamaru sighed, he sounded like a teenaged girl in his head. "And my dream for the future is to avenge my clan and kill a certain-" Naruto coughed and Shikamaru could tell he was glaring, "I want to find answers." Naruto was a genius, he'd just made an s-rank missing nin open up about the truth in a minute. Damn.

There was a sound akin to a stampede and then Ino and Sakura started to shove through the door, both claiming to have won - he saw, it was obviously Ino, but he didn't have a death wish. He watched them both go over to Naruto and then tuned out, falling asleep. No harm could come to his hokage here. Not fatal harm, anyway.


End file.
